Volume jumps up and down on its own; media pauses itself

[Android Central Question]

Hi--So this is a new issue for me and it is VERY irritating. I have a Note 4 with Android 6.0.1. If you need any further technical info I am happy to provide it.

As stated, my volume jumps up and down at random intervals, regardless of how high or low the volume is set by the buttons, and the YouTube videos will pause on their own as well. I am frequently deafened by this issue when using headphones, and it also happens using my Bluetooth speaker.

I am REALLY not technically savvy with these matters, so any input you might have would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! It's possible the headphone jack is faulty, sending false commands to vary the volume and pause playback.

Does this also happen in Safe Mode? https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-28897

 

[afearer]

Welcome to Android Central! It's possible the headphone jack is faulty, sending false commands to vary the volume and pause playback.

Does this also happen in Safe Mode? https://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-28897

I am also having these two very irritating (and deafening) issues. It happens with headphones, loudspeake, AND Bluetooth. I booted into safe mode and to my surprise, the issue did NOT persist. Curiously, when the volume jumps occur, the volume slide dialog stays in the same place, which leads me to believe it is a software and not a hardware problem.

Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[B. Diddy]

The fact that it doesn't happen in Safe Mode strongly suggests that some app you installed is causing this issue. Unfortunately, it can be tedious to narrow things down further -- you may just have to uninstall apps one by one until the problem goes away.

 

[afearer]

The fact that it doesn't happen in Safe Mode strongly suggests that some app you installed is causing this issue. Unfortunately, it can be tedious to narrow things down further -- you may just have to uninstall apps one by one until the problem goes away.

Alright, so before I begin taking shots in the dark, should I be looking for apps that have audio permissions? Or is there other criteria as well?

 

[B. Diddy]

That sounds like a good plan, although I'm not sure how that shows up in the system settings menu. On the Pixel 2 XL on Oreo and Pie, I can see all app permissions that my apps use (under Settings>Apps>App Permissions), but I don't see an Audio permission there. There is a permission for Modify Audio Settings, but I'm not sure how that shows up: https://stackoverflow.com/questions...-permissions-and-dangerous-permissions-in-api

 

[afearer]

That sounds like a good plan, although I'm not sure how that shows up in the system settings menu. On the Pixel 2 XL on Oreo and Pie, I can see all app permissions that my apps use (under Settings>Apps>App Permissions), but I don't see an Audio permission there. There is a permission for Modify Audio Settings, but I'm not sure how that shows up: https://stackoverflow.com/questions...-permissions-and-dangerous-permissions-in-api

I am using an app called "Addons Detector' that can show which apps have certain permissions, etc. There are 9 of them that have permission to adjust audio settings, but the volume and playback issues still happen if none of those apps happen to be running.

I'm at a loss for what else to do. Any more recommendations? I'm not super familiar with the more technical side of these things.

 

[B. Diddy]

Did you also try uninstalling those apps that have the permission? Just because it's not running doesn't necessarily mean it's not somehow interfering with the function.